


Right Side Of Rock Bottom

by Naomida



Series: Fire Meet Gasoline [11]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Backstory, F/M, Gen, Sisters, True Love, illidari - Freeform, those demon hunters are stupid but i love them with all my heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:48:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naomida/pseuds/Naomida
Summary: Jace made her weak, and as an archdruid, she couldn’t let herself be that.





	Right Side Of Rock Bottom

Cary, the absolute _idiot_ that she was, had started asking around the second she had heard about the Illidaris joining the fight. She had grieved a long time ago for her family and for the love of her life — who had abandoned her like a broken twig — but she still needed answers, still convinced that something terrible had happened to Ilana for her not to come back.

She had been wrong, and had realized that the second a tall and slender blood elf had sneered down at her and asked with a tone that suggested clearly that she disgusted him, “Our general?”

Cary had taken it like a kick in the face. She had stayed dazed for a while, had sat down at an inn without really knowing how she had gotten there, and had just stared at her untouched drink for a very long time.

Surely, Ilana wouldn’t have abandoned her for _Illidan_ of all people, right?

She had quickly realized that she was wrong, that not only Ilana had completely abandoned her without a second thought, but so had Jace — who was well and alive, and that she saw from afar in Dalaran once, which ended up with her almost doing something harsh and stupid, and several druids taking her back to Val’sharah and forcing her to stay there until they deemed her well enough to go back out into the world.

It broke her a little more. He had left her once, had taken her face between his large and mage-soft hands, had looked down deeply into her eyes, had lightly pressed his forehead against hers.

“I’ll always love you, my heart,” he had murmured, either pretending to not see her tears or cruel enough not to care, “but I need to do this and _know_ , whether those rumors are true or not.”

She had already fought him on that. Had already yelled at his face that Loramus was dead, that it was already hard enough for Ilana without him adding salt to the wound, that he had the two of them and that he had to accept that it was enough.

 _He’s not magically going to come back_ , she had screamed with tears running down her face, _but I am_ here _isn’t it enoug_ _h?_

He had looked away at that, unlike he had done with her face in his hands, his eyes firmly in hers, too intense, making her feel both cold and warm at the same time, the usual tingly feeling in her chest stronger than ever.

She had said nothing, lower lip wobbling while trying very hard to keep her tears in and commit to memory the feeling of him being so close to her at the same time.

Cary had always loved him. Jace had always rejected her.

He had waited until her two hundred and seventh year before telling her his reasons — too many centuries separating them, he was always away to study magic, she had to focus on her own training, it was just too complicated.

She had argued that with every breath, all those years, knowing deep down into her heart — into her _soul_ — that it was bullshit. Mates were mates, century age gaps be damned.

And then Ilana had met Loramus, who was a little older than Jace, just like Ilana was a little older than Cary, and it had given her more reasons.

Jace had never bulged, had never even so much as touched her, before that day he left. He always kept her at arms length, far enough that she couldn’t have any of him, but close enough that they could keep an eye on each other.

She had refused any other pretender, knowing down to her very being, that she was his and he was hers — it was the only thing that she knew with absolute certainty, even her druid training didn’t make that much sense.

“I love you,” she had said that night, after weeks and weeks of fighting with him and trying to mend Ilana’s shattered pieces into something close to what she had been. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

“I promise, my heart,” he had said, breath hot against her face, and she had closed her eyes, knowing that if he didn’t kiss her now, he never would and hating him for that — for how he made her ache, how difficult he made it when it truly was the simplest thing about their existence.

He had pressed his lips against her forehead after a while, hands gently pressing her shoulders, before he was stepping back, big and heavy backpack and leather boots almost making him look like a hunter, or an adventurer.

Ilana was looking at them, way too many meters away, her huntress senses still as sharp as ever though. She had tried to give them space but had still probably seen and heard almost everything. She gave a nod to Jace, who nodded back, before giving one last rare half smile of his to Cary, and turning on his heels to leave.

She still to this day remembered the feeling of her heart being ripped out of her chest and leaving with him. Ilana had lied to her, had said that he would be back in a few weeks, a few months top. That he would find nothing and would finally have to face the sad reality, like they had.

The problem was that he hadn’t come back. Worse, Cary had done the worst thing she could have done — she had begged Ilana to go find him, had pleaded and cried and gotten on her knees, asking Ilana to find him.

“You’re the best huntress here, you know that, and you know him as much as I do. _P_ _lease_ , I know you can do this, I know you can bring him back to me.”

Ilana hadn’t been the same since Loramus’ death, but something had light up in her eyes, and she had nodded softly before taking Cary in her arms and holding her close and tight.

She had left the very next day with the promise of bringing him back — “No matter what” she had said, and Cary had swallowed down with difficulty, heart telling her that he was still alive but knowing that Ilana still had shared dreams with Loramus, as if he were still alive, and that the deep feeling in her heart might have been wrong too.

And so Cary, being the absolute naive idiot that she was, had sent the very last member of her family away on a pointless hunt.

She had heard the rumors about elves joining Illidan’s army on another planet a few years afterward — her stomach doing funny jumps at that — and she had quickly dismissed the idea, because surely if _anyone_ was still alive, they would have contacted her by now.

They _couldn’t_ have all abandoned her like that, forgotten that she even existed.

Unfortunately, her instincts were telling her a different story, so when she heard about the Illidari being here, on the Broken Isles, in _Dalaran_ , fighting with them, she couldn’t help but look into it.

Her instincts had been right, and she was an absolute idiot.

She bit down hard on her lips when a sob threatened to rip through her throat, and closed her eyes against the tears. There were other druids in the tent with her and she didn’t want to bother them with her stupid feelings.

  


  


***

  


  


She only talked to Ilana once she was standing on the Broken Shore again. Her sister had tried to approach her once, after they had all gone through the Nightmare and Cary had gotten out of there as an archdruid. She hadn’t let her speak then, had turned on her heels and walked away, but things were slightly different now — she had just watched the archmage sob and lose it, hugging her dead sister’s body while Varian Wrynn himself tried to console her.

It had brought tears to her eyes. The loss of a sister wasn’t an easy thing, and as she sat on the dirty and cold sand of the beach that had just been cleaned out of murlocs, knees hugged to her chest, she let Ilana sit down next to her and mirror her position.

“I heard you asked questions around,” said Ilana after a moment, voice deeper than it had been, raspier, like something was stuck in her throat now.

Cary turned her head to look at her, a pinch in the heart when her eyes fell on too dark skin, hair turned purple, claw-like scars running down her face and, worst of all, burnt out eyes.

“I needed to make sure, for my sanity, that my sister wasn’t a traitress, but I was wrong.”

Ilana, who had been holding her gaze until now, looked away at the waves, eyebrows dipping, ears flat against her head and not pointing up.

Cary had watched the look on Ilana’s face at Delivrance Point when the archmage had started crying — she had heard the rumors after all, that the two of them were inseparable, and had wanted to see for herself.

Ilana’s expression had crumbled, and it had reminded Cary of that night Jace had announced that he was leaving — how Ilana had turned to her, gripping her forearm hard enough that it hurt and making the exact same face.

It hurt, to think that Ilana had found a new sister when she was stuck in the past, a shell of betrayal and resentment.

“Loramus is alive,” said Ilana after a long silence, looking back at her, and Cary felt her heart jump. “That’s why I didn’t come back,” she went on, voice soft despite its rasp, barely loud enough to be heard over the wind and waves, “I went all the way to Outland for Jace, only to learn that he had succeeded, that he had found Loramus. I needed to get through the training to get to them, and by the time I could finally speak with them…”

She gestured to her face with a humorless smile and Cary was the one to look away this time, down at her knees, sight suddenly blurry with tears.

“I understand that you hate me,” she continued, as if Cary wasn’t shaking right next to her, “but trust me I hate myself more. We completely abandoned you, convinced ourselves that it was better this way, that we couldn’t reach you anyway, that you wouldn’t want anything to do with us if you knew what we had become.”

She gave a scoff, and Cary looked back at her, at the cruel smirk twisting her lips.

“We were just telling lies to ourselves because we knew that what we were doing to you was wrong. You had trusted Jace to come back, and you had trusted me to being him back, and we both failed you.”

Cary nodded slightly, words escaping her, and for a long moment they just sat there, the chasm between them seemingly smaller.

Ilana got up before Cary could find something to say — if there even was something to say to that — and left without another word.

Cary stayed right where she was.

  


  


***

  


  


The Illidaris were everywhere, and she guessed words had gotten around that she was linked to some of them, because every horned elf she met just kept on staring at her from afar without saying anything.

Once, two blood elves stared at her while speaking in Demonic in hushed tones, and while she didn’t understand the language at all, she was pretty sure she caught Jace’s name in there, and that had her run away from them as fast as she could.

She didn’t think she could face Jace. Didn’t think she could even see him apart from far away in the middle of the perpetually busy Krasus Landing.

If she was being honest with herself, she was mostly scared that she would fall into his arms given the opportunity and just forgive him without a second thought.

Jace made her weak, and as an archdruid, she couldn’t let herself be that.

  


  


***

  


  


With the fight going on at all times of the day, Cary was completely out of rhythm with the Moon, and she stumbled out of the battlefield during the afternoon without really knowing what time it was or what she was supposed to do now. The sun was hurting her eyes and she really regretted having refused the day off that she had been offered, but it was too late now, and she let herself fall on a pile of covers, somewhere in Delivrance Point, ready to fall asleep the second the healers would let her go – she had tried telling them that her bleeding leg was fine, but they had still forced her down here, before running away to go tend to someone who _really_ needed it.

Cary couldn’t remember ever feeling this tired, which was a problem, because it made her forget about where she was, and what the one thing she wanted to prevent from ever happening was.

So it did happen.

One second she was squinting down at her knee, watching the leather of her pants grow darker and darker from her blood, the next two strong and large hands were pressing down on her thigh, making her hiss in pain and the blood flow drastically diminish.

“What are you doing?” hissed a deep voice – the kind of deep that made you shiver, that made you fear a little, if you heard it in a deserted street while you were all alone.

Cary looked up, heart in her throat, and felt all blood leave her face when her eyes fell on dead ones that gleamed green, just like the tattoos sprawling over the elf’s shoulders and chest. His hair was a mess, like always, and this close, she could see every single details of his face, how his skin looked more like scales around his temples and jaw.

Jace was beautiful despite it, and he was looking straight into her eyes.

She looked away, hands still behind her on the covers to prop her up, and she turned her eyes to the gray sky, with its distant fel bats and constant storm.

“That’s how people stupidly get killed,” he said, as if he couldn’t feel the muscles of her leg shaking under his hands – as if he couldn’t see her entire body shake, the tip of her eyebrows quivering, ears suddenly perking up like traitors. Elune, she had hoped it wouldn’t happened, especially not like that, when she was wounded and too exhausted to do anything but let him press down on her wound to stop the bleeding and look straight into her soul to break her heart again. “What even happened?”

She bit on her tongue, trying to stop herself from replying, but her body wasn’t as strong as her mind, and it relaxed when Jace changed his grip just so, fingers almost going all the way around her thigh and getting just this much closer – close enough that she could smell the leather and metal tang sticking to his skin, along with the faint smell of fel and something else, something old and familiar that tugged at her heart.

“Some demon got lucky,” she said, eyes drifting down to his again without her accord, and it stopped her heart for a second, the intensity with which he was watching her.

“How long have you been fighting? You look exhausted.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, looking away again when the healer came back – a petite pandaren monk, who pushed Jace’s hands away and took care of the deep cut in under a minute, getting back up without a word once it was done to run to another wounded.

Jace didn’t move, his hands bloody now, and the sight of her own blood between his fingers and on his palms stirred something in her – the more animalistic part, the one that wanted to sink her fangs into his shoulder until he cried, and then lick the blood off and kiss him so he could taste it too.

She groaned internally, feeling sick with herself, and tried to get up, wobbling and entire body weak and screaming in pain, and she didn’t even realize that Jace had grabbed her elbow until she was standing up right, way too close to him for her own comfort.

She tried to elbow him away, and almost fell, which earned her a scowl from Jace, and his other hand grabbing her shoulder.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked, voice still too deep, and raw, and something other, that she couldn’t define. He sounded as concerned as anyone half-demon could, but she didn’t want to hear it from him – didn't want anything from him that could make her weaker than she already was.

“I’m going to _sleep_ ,” she replied, pointedly trying to get out of his grip again, and he let her go, fingertips trailing on her armor as she stepped away from him, and immediately fell down to her knees, head spinning.

She had lost more blood than she had realized, and she simply sighed when he grabbed her again and helped her to her feet.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, wrapping an arm around her waist, just snug enough that she was leaning on him, but not totally, “I’ll help you.”

“The last thing I need is your help,” she replied, but he kept his eyes straight on and ignored her completely, the only sign that he had heard being the muscle that jumped in his jaw.

  


  


***

  


  


Everyone made mistakes, from time to time. Cary’s was to fall asleep on the gryphon that Jace paid for and mounted with her – not that she could really be blamed. After all, she had been exhausted, had lost a lot of blood, and was sitting, leaning back against his chest, his arms around her and his breath a rhythmic hot puff against her nape.

Her body had reacted before she could have turned into an owl and flown as far away as possible – it had melted back against Jace’s warmth, and she had fallen asleep.

The waking up was a lot more brutal. Every single muscle of her body screamed at her – except for her right thigh, that the healer had taken care of – and she felt like she had been sleeping for an entire century. Her mouth was dry, she felt too hot, and most of her armor was gone.

Something moved against her back and someone grumbled, and she sat up with a start, heart sinking in her chest as she looked around with wide eyes, at the bare bedroom she was in – a bedroom she had never seen in her life before, but there was an Illidari banner on one of the walls, so it wasn’t really hard to guess how she had gotten here.

She looked down at herself, gritting her teeth hard enough that it hurt to her cheekbones. She was wearing the tiny little under-armor shirt she usually wore, and her panties. Nothing more.

Jace, who was still asleep next to her in the bed, was bare-chested, and while she couldn’t see the rest of him under the cover, she hoped that he was wearing pants, or else she’d blast him so hard with the force of a full moon, she’d erase his entire existence, leaving nothing but a crater.

He mumbled something, and reached for the pillow she had been using, opening his eyes when he came in contact with nothing, eyes immediately falling on her. For a very short moment he looked lost and rumpled and absolutely adorable, and Cary felt the rage rise in her chest as fast as the love.

How dare he do this to her? He knew how she felt, how she had always felt and that nothing would ever change it.

He sat up slowly, the cover slipping down – and she breathed just a little easier, because he _did_ have pants on – and raised a hand to ruffle his hair up even more than it already was.

“Cary,” he said, voice even deeper than it had been.

She wanted to punch him about as much as she wanted to kiss him and stay in this bed forever.

“Where did you take me and what made you think that you could undress me?”

He seemed to pale despite his dark complexion and his hand drifted down from his hair to the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry, you wouldn’t wake up and I couldn’t just leave you there in Krasus Landing. Ilana is the one who undressed you, your armor was covered in blood and fel, we couldn’t let you sleep in it.”

She glared, trying not to look at his horns – fuck, she had never thought about it until now but _he had horns_ – and crossed her arms, feeling very exposed for the very first time in her life.

She was pretty sure he had seen her naked before, when they all still lived in the forest – even back when Cary and Ilana had had parents, before Cary’s one hundred and seventy-seventh birthday. Maybe it was the bed, making her feel so uncomfortable and naked, making her feel like her skin was too tight, like it would rip at the seams if she moved too quickly.

Maybe it was his eyes, watching her like he could still _see_ like he used to – making her shake, making the butterflies in her stomach flutter their wings so fast, she felt sick, making her palms clammy and her heart heavy.

He cleared his throat. “Cary,” he said, just her name, but somehow it held more weight than any other word he could have said.

“Where are my clothes? I want to leave.”

He pointed with his chin to the big chest on the other side of the room, where Cary’s stuff had been folded in a neat pile, and although her goal was to get up, put everything back on and leave as fast as she could without running, she stayed right where she was, sitting on the bed next to him, looking down into his eyes.

“Can we talk?” he whispered, sounding soft, fragile, like the mage with unscarred hands she had known, “Please?”

“What?” she snapped, feeling her heart melt as the fury burned brighter in her chest – two conflicting feelings both taking over her and swallowing her whole, love and hate, lust and disgust, longing and repulsion. She wanted to leave and take him in his arms. She wanted to kill and kiss him. She wanted to straddle his legs to get on top of him, and to strangle him while she grind down on his lap.

She wanted him.

“Cary,” he breathed, and she kept quiet despite her want to make fun of him for only saying her name. “I’m _so_ sorry, for everything. I never meant for things to get like this. My plan had always been to get Loramus back, and come back home to _you_ , I never thought I would have to become an Illidari, to train and turn into this monster, and when Ilana arrived...” he stopped, swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and Cary bit down on her lower lip, fangs this close to drawing blood. “I want you, Cary,” he said, gaze seeming to grow heavier, “I’ve always wanted you, always will, and if you’ll have me now maybe we could–"

She scoffed, cutting him right in the middle of his sentence, heart singing and bleeding at the same time. He _w_ _anted_ her? _Now_ of all times? After stringing her along her entire life? After throwing her away like she meant nothing? After making her lose her sister too, because she was scared for him?

She felt the cruel smile slip on her face, and watched as he paled.

“Now that you’re a disgusting monster that no one will ever want you think that you can take me? The poor little Cary, that you kept away for bullshit reasons that made sense to no one but you? That you left without a backward glance, knowing that she was too stupid to let you go? The poor little Cary that you used, and strung along just because you could, that you never truly cared about? Do you think that I’m that desperate?”

He looked like she had just slapped him – with her claws – and deep down, it hurt her to see that look on his face, to know that she was the one who had put it there, but the rage was boiling over and no matter how much she wanted him, she couldn’t let him treat her like that.

“Cary,” he said, just her name again, his voice breaking.

“You have no idea how much I hate you,” she replied, tears suddenly flooding her eyes. “I lost you when I never even really had you to begin with, and then I lost my sister because of that. Look at me now,” she said, spreading her arms, but his eyes stayed planted in hers, and she distantly wondered if he could cry now. “You took, and you took, and you took from me, and then you threw me away.” she blinked, the tears in her eyes burning trails down her cheeks, but she didn’t care for that, not when her emotions were tumbling out like that and threatening to take over her. “You used me, Jace. You _broke_ me, and now, twenty years later, I wake up undressed in your bed and you suddenly want me? _P_ _lease_ , don’t pretend to suddenly care.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding like he was crying but absolutely no trace of that on his face. “I know I hurt you, and I was _so_ stupid for trying to keep you away, I regret it now, but don’t pretend I never cared about you. Don’t pretend I didn’t love you just like you loved me.”

 _I still do you absolute idiot_ , she wanted to say, but he put his hand on hers instead, and she looked down in surprise, his skin darker than hers, hand still so big, warm, but not soft anymore.

He had the hands of a fighter now.

Cary looked back up, and she leaned over to plant a kiss on his mouth.

It was a stupid thing to do, but she had already expressed her rage, so now she needed to let go of some of the love too, before she imploded from it all.

So she kissed him, pressing her lips against his until he pressed back, his hand that wasn’t on hers reaching up to cup her jaw, and she melted against him, sliding over the sheets to get close enough to completely lean on his body, following when he leaned back until he was laying on the bed, Cary over him.

She straddled his waist, bringing both of her hands up too to put flat on his bare chest, feeling his hammering heart under her palm, his skin warm, his breathing picking up as he grabbed her thighs, pressing his fingers into her skin.

He groaned softly against her lips when she raked her nails down his chest, to his stomach that she was sitting on, before putting her hands flat again and caressing up his chest.

She had had occasions, before, to do that with a lot of people. She remembered being still young — not even a century old yet still knowing that Jace was her mate. She’d watch Ilana and this huntress lover of hers. Cary couldn’t remember her name, after all those years, but she remembered her confusion when she had realized that she wasn’t Ilana’s mate. "Why would you be with someone who _isn’t_?" she had asked, too naive, and Ilana had smiled and shrugged a shoulder, as clever as always.

She wasn’t naive anymore, hadn’t been for a while, but she still hadn’t touched anyone. Ever.

She had thought about it, of course, but it felt wrong, even though she had thought Jace dead.

It reassured her a little, that he squirmed and groaned and panted whenever she tried something. He never let her lean back from him, catching her lips whenever she made to move away, and he let go of her thighs to grab her waist, move her slightly back, until she was sitting on his lap, his erection pressing up into her.

She moaned at the feeling, feeling his answering hum down to her toes, and she let him do as he pleased when his fingers sneaked under her shirt, caressing her skin, making her shiver. He put his hand flat on her back, one thumb caressing at her spine, and slowly rolled over, taking her with him, until he was pressing her down into the bed, between her thighs, and he finally broke their kiss to press his face against her neck, lips pressed to her carotid – where he could undoubtedly feel her heart beating wildly.

Burying her fingers into his hair, Cary let him take her panties off, followed by his pants – and she stopped breathing for a second when she realized that he wasn’t wearing anything underneath it, unable to look away from him, his cock purple like the rest of him but with a pinkish blush, hard and leaking against her thigh, so close yet so far. She wanted to touch it. Wanted to taste it, on her tongue, and inside her. Wanted him to press into her until she couldn’t breathe anymore, until the only thing she could do was grip him and scream his name, until she couldn’t even remember how to move.

She had waited so long for this moment, she blinked up at him in surprise when he gently cupped her face in his palm and smiled down at her.

There was something soft here, something old and familiar and that shouldn’t belong on the face of an Illidari, but was here nonetheless, just for her.

“I love you,” he whispered, before kissing her lips, guiding his cock to her entrance with his free hand.

He touched her and she held her breath, quickly releasing it in a whimper when he slid up instead of inside of her, erection sliding along her, along that one bundle of nerve that she had discovered by herself a _long_ time ago and made her see stars.

It wasn’t really surprising that Jace’s erection rubbing against her clit was way better than her fingers, but she still couldn’t quite believe it as she gripped his shoulders and just moaned against his ears.

He was groaning too, by the time he stopped and _finally_ pressed into her, and she was so wet and excited already, she barely felt a slight burn, closing her eyes and throwing her head back as Jace’s mouth attached to her neck and started sucking at her skin.

He didn’t have any rhythm, not that she was displeased by it, moaning and whimpering and breathing his name whenever his hips snapped, shivering and trying to press him closer, panting, sweating, not quite believing that this was happening.

He pushed her shirt up at some point, to her collarbone, and started licking at her skin, and that’s when she felt it, a sudden wave of warmth taking over her, starting from her lower belly, to her entire body, muscles going taut, planting her nails into Jace’s back as her breath hitched and she heard him groan.

He kissed her face through it, groaning low and deep, she could feel vibrate it in their chest with how close they were to each other, and when she finally came back to her senses, she realized that he had come with her.

Jace was boneless and relaxed but had managed to not put all of his weight on her, and for a moment she stayed absolutely still, with her hands on his back and her legs around his hips. She didn’t know what else to do — wasn’t sure she could even move yet, her entire body relaxed and pliant and humming contentedly.

She closed her eyes as Jace nuzzled her neck, right under her jaw, and slowly moved her legs to put them back on the bed and be more comfortable.

“This doesn’t change anything,” she whispered, running her fingers up and down his back. He had angry red scratches all over, but wasn’t saying anything so she guessed he was fine with it.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured against her skin. “I’m so sorry, what can I do to make it up?” He kissed her throat, making her shiver, and she planted her nails into the skin of his shoulders, watching as he shivered too and storing this information away.

“Give me space and time,” she said, because she was mad at him, but she also loved him more than anything, and she wasn’t stupid enough to throw her only chance with him away.

He nodded, still pressing butterfly kisses on her skin, and for a while she let herself bask in the afterglow.

  


  


***

  


  


Four weeks later, Ilana sat down next to her at A Hero’s Welcome and just stared for a long while.

She had some sort of helm that hid the upper part of her face and her mouth had this down-turn that clearly stated she was in a sour mood.

“You’re going to the Tomb?” she asked, a harsh whisper in the busy inn.

Cary nodded, clenching her cup between her fingers.

The Tomb had been on everyone’s lips for the past week. They had all known that it would be soon, but it had still been a shock when Khadgar had called everyone and announced that they would go two days from now.

She hadn’t seen Jace in those four weeks, and might never see him again. The archdruid had died in the Nightmare — she could follow the same fate in the Tomb. Or worse, _he could_. Every Order would bring in soldiers to hold the parts of the Tomb they conquered, what was to say he wouldn’t meet a tragic end?

She felt sick just thinking about having to go through this again.

Maybe she should have reached out to him in those four weeks, instead of forcing herself not to.

After having sex, and cuddling for way too long and bathing together, he had escorted her to the portal to Dalaran, and had sweetly kissed her in front of everyone — who had been staring, and whistling, and yelling something in Demonic that she was glad she didn’t understand.

She had been thinking about it nonstop since then. Kissing him, touching him, holding him. She had wished for it for _so_ long, it was almost fun to think that she was preventing herself from finally having it because of her anger and feeling of betrayal.

Ilana and her sighed deeply at the exact same time and shared a small amused smirk — for the first time in a long time.

It made Cary feel better to think that her relationship with her sister was still salvageable, even after all this time, and despite everything.

“Loramus is sad he missed you while you were on Mardum.”

Cary raised an eyebrow. She had heard the rumors about what had happened to him — what the archmage had done for him and Ilana — but she never dared ask questions. She missed him a lot, he was practically her brother at this point, after all, but she didn’t know how to bring it up in the rare times Ilana and her talked.

“I’m sad I missed him too.”

“Good. Are you willing to talk about Jace?”

Cary raised her cup and drowned it in one go, grimacing at the burn and the terrible taste, before she was crossing her arms on the table and meeting Ilana’s eyes straight on.

“We might as well,” she said, to which her sister gave her a solemn nod.

“You two had sex.” Cary nodded. “He’s been agonizing over what to tell you since then. I’m pretty sure he manages to keep an eye on you at all times but doesn’t have the courage to come talk to you.”

“It’s on me. I told him to give me space and time.”

“We’re at war, you might not have it.”

“I know that, but I was furious at him and couldn’t just fall into his arms like that.”

“And what about now? Are you still furious?”

Cary shrugged a shoulder, looking down at her empty cup and gently running her index and middle finger over the rim.

“Now… now I just want to stop losing time. Like you said we’re at war, we might all be dead in an hour.”

Ilana reached over the table to grab her hand and trap it between hers, forcing Cary to meet her eyes again.

“Look,” she said, “I lost Loramus twice, only to find out that he was trapped inside a demon when I got him back, so I might know a thing or two about loss. You want to make the best out of what you have while you can have it, _trust me_. The chances that you have another mate somewhere out there that you’re going to meet at some point in the future are very slim, and I _know_ how much he means to you,” she squeezed her hand at that, and Cary suddenly had a flash of Ilana’s face when she had said yes to go hunt Jace down. They had been friends, he had been Loramus’ brother in everything but blood, but ultimately she had done it for her, because she loved Jace more than anything in the world. “And I know how much you mean to him, so please don’t let time run out. And don’t tell him I’ve ever been this sentimental.”

Cary chuckled at that, and put her hand on Ilana’s, squeezing too and unable to keep a smile off her face.

“You’re an asshole but I still love you,” she announced, to which Ilana very obviously rolled her eyes under her helm — but there was a beaming smile on her face too, one that had been rare even back when she was still a regular huntress.

  


  


***

  


  


Ilana and a very pleased Loramus escorted her to Mardum the day before the assault against the Tomb, and she pretended she couldn’t see everyone staring again as she crossed the short hallways and numerous stairs, managing to find her way back to Jace’s chambers by herself.

He looked stunned when she walked in and closed the door behind her, but didn’t say anything, just stood there and watched as she walked to his bed and sat at the foot of it.

“Maybe we should talk,” she said.

He nodded but stayed right where he was.

“I’m still angry with you, but tomorrow is an important day and I don’t want us to walk in there with regrets.”

Again, he nodded, without moving, so Cary got up and joined him, looking up into his blind eyes, feeling a slight pinch in her chest.

Maybe one day she’d get used to his new appearance.

She reached up when he kept on looking at her, hands on the side of his neck, and pulled him down to kiss him.

He sighed into her mouth, pulled her closer, and she melted against his chest, the fire of fury still burning bright in her, but the love overwhelming it, making her feel light and warm instead of heavy and burning.

“Thank you,” he whispered between two kisses, making her smile. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

She kissed him harder instead of replying, fully aware that none of their problems were gone or anywhere near dealt with, but they had to start somewhere and this was as good a place as any.

**Author's Note:**

> I really couldn't give a shit about the Tomb of Sargeras. It's the only raid that I barely touched - in fact I was so unbothered by it that I mainly played pvp during this patch. As such, I'm not getting too much into the events going on during that period.
> 
> Fun fact: I actually wrote the one shot after this one before starting to work on another one focusing on Khadgar when this one suddenly happened. I just sat down one day and wrote it all in one sitting, so please excuse any weirdness with grammar etc. and I hope you like it.  
> The next oneshot is already written and just waiting for a quick reread and some editing, I'll post it soon and you're going to LOVE it ;)


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